LG Chem sets up joint venture with VinFast for battery pack production
Kim Dong-myung, fourth from right, a senior vice president who leads the IT & New Application Battery Division of LG Chem, and Vo Quang Hue, fourth from left, deputy general director of Vingroup, shake hands after announcing their joint venture for battery pack production in Hanoi, Friday. / Courtesy of VinFast
By Jun Ji-hye
LG Chem has set up a joint venture company with Vietnam's electric vehicle (EV) and scooter maker VinFast for battery pack production, boosting its efforts to expand in the Southeast Asian market, the Korean firm said Sunday.
The joint venture came after the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding last September to enhance cooperation in the battery business.
VinFast, a subsidiary of Vingroup, Vietnam's largest private enterprise, also officially announced the joint venture Friday.
The plant, which covers more than 12,000 square meters, is in VinFast's Supplier Park in the northern port city of Hai Phong.
“The joint venture aims to produce lithium-ion battery packs for VinFast's electric scooters that are being made now and electric cars to be produced in the future,” VinFast said.
Korea's leading EV battery maker said VinFast will be in charge of building warehouses and production lines, employing workers and operating the plant.
“LG Chem will be responsible for supervising facilities and equipment, educating employees and offering technical advice and design knowhow,” an official from LG Chem said.
The official said the joint venture company aims to make premium products that meet international standards and environmentally friendly criteria.
As LG Chem possesses wide experience in lithium-ion battery production, VinFast's EVs powered by LG Chem's batteries will be optimized for the Vietnamese market in terms of price and efficiency.
“The partnership with LG Chem to establish the battery production joint venture factory in VinFast's plant complex is one of the important steps to ensure that VinFast's electric scooters and electric cars will have batteries with high efficiency at suitable prices,” said Vo Quang Hue, deputy general director of Vingroup, in a speech at the announcement ceremony.
“This will also be an important beginning step in building a complete ecosystem for a made-in-Vietnam automobile and e-scooter manufacturing industry, which VinFast is aiming for.”
The Vietnamese company said the joint-venture factory also plans to supply lithium-ion battery cells for other electric devices and products in Vingroup's portfolio.